Time to wrap up those late-season cleanup chores

Courtesy | Gannett News ServiceTorrential fall winds and rainstorms can shove leaves and acorns off the rooftop into the gutters. It's important to clear out the debris before winter snow and ice cements it in place.

Pre-holiday jitters are under way, thanks to the early onslaught of Christmas music and the move by major retailers to launch Black Friday sales on Thanksgiving Day.

Angst this week centers on making lump-free gravy and the logistics of cramming 16 people into a 10- by 14-foot dining area, not to mention roasting a 20-pound turkey in an oven with half the capacity.

What about the Japanese maple? Should it be pruned before Christmas lights go up?
And who’s going to arrange transportation for ailing parents and in-laws who like to consume their Butterball through a straw?

It’s a lot to worry about, to be sure. A great place to clear your mind is in the great outdoors. Some of us spend time inside a musty old ground blind, waiting for a 12-point buck to amble by. Others spend time in a musty old garage, looking for the $12 snow shovel that barely got used last winter.

The window of opportunity to harvest a deer or harvest the last of the late-season vegetables is closing. Act now, before you’re swept away in the holiday rush.

Garden cleanup should be wrapping up. Remove spent annuals from the ground before soil freezes. Cut perennials down to a few inches from the base and cover with a layer of finely-mulched leaves.

Recent wind events have either rid your yard of leaves or filled it waist-deep with leaves from the neighborhood. Spread leaves out and run them over a few times with the lawn mower. If you have a bagger attachment, great. If not, gather diced leaves and loosely cover perennials — including roses.

This will help insulate plants over the winter and reduce the chance a freeze-thaw cycle will heave them out of the ground.

If you’re one of the people who like to buy a living Christmas tree for inside, dig a hole now before the soil freezes.

Once Christmas is over, the living tree can be dropped into the pre-dug hole and filled with soil.

Leaves still left on the lawn can be chopped and blown onto garden beds or chopped and left on the lawn to enhance soil health. If there’s lawn fertilizer on hand, give the turf a final feeding. It will not promote late-season growth, but will be stored in plant roots for a quick green-up next spring.

This exercise also affords a great opportunity to get the mower ready for winter storage. Before using the mower, add a few drops of a fuel stabilizer, such as Sta-Bil, and run the machine until the gas is used up.

Gasoline tends to break down after 30 days, and untreated gas left in mowers and leaf blowers will gum up the carburetor. Adding Sta-Bil to the tank before running it dry ensures treated gas cycles through the engine until it finally conks out.

Let the machine cool a few minutes, then drain oil while it still is warm; it makes the draining process easier.

With the mower on its side, remove the blade and get it sharpened to avoid the spring rush.

To avoid the December rush on snow blower service, try starting it now — especially if it went into the garage last winter filled with untreated gas.

“Each year, after the first big snow, I get hit with people bringing in snow blowers that don’t start,’’ said Dick Harmon, who runs Rockford Small Engine Repair in Rockford. “Usually, it’s because they’ve been sitting with untreated gas. And then everyone wants them fixed right away.’’

Downspouts and gutters have an annoying way of filling with debris when the gales of November come early. Clogged gutters and downspouts don’t allow rain and melting snow to flow where it’s supposed to go. This results in ice-clogged gutters, ice-shelves on roofs and massive icicles that can easily crush anything below.

Cleaning gutters will help reduce ice back-ups. If you have tender plants, such as rhododendrons, beneath ice-prone overhangs, place a sheet of plywood over them to afford protection from falling ice.

Rhododendrons also will benefit from an anti-tranpirant, such as Wilt-Pruf, sprayed on the leaves. This waxlike substance prevents moisture loss from sun and drying winter winds. Arborvitaes prone to disfigurement from wet, heavy snow can be loosely wrapped with burlap or twine.

Leftover burlap makes a dandy cover for metal chairs used to accommodate overflow Thanksgiving guests seated in the garage. It’s crude but effective. And it may get you out of hosting next year’s family get-together.